After eating the dumplings, the old lady calmed down completely.
The old house couldn't accommodate too many people, so the grandparents and grandchildren lived in one room. Dai You slept in a single bed, Yu Fei slept in a rocking chair, and Xie Lan and Dou Sheng were assigned the lower bunk, which was the bed that Che Ziming and his cousin slept on when they were young.
Time seemed to slow down around old objects and old people. This night was very long. Xie Lan curled up in the narrow children's bed. He was obviously very tired and sleepy, but he kept waking up when he fell asleep and could fall asleep again immediately after waking up.
The old alley was very quiet late at night, so quiet that he could hear Dou Sheng's long and steady breathing under the bed when he woke up several times.
Xie Lan woke up again and looked at his phone. It was 01:15.
The breathing sounds below stopped, and he suddenly felt a little insecure. He leaned over the edge of the bed and looked down in a daze.
Dou Sheng was lying on the bed, resting his hands on his head, staring at the wall outside the alley, lost in thought.
As soon as Xie Lan's head popped out, he came back to his senses and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Can't you sleep?" Xie Lan asked in a low voice.
Dou Sheng whispered, "I was able to fall asleep, but I woke up for a bit and thought about some things from the past, and then I wasn't that sleepy anymore."
"Hmm." Xie Lan rested his chin on the railing, closed his eyes and tried to use his brain for a while, "How old are you?"
Dou Sheng raised the corner of his lips, "You are not that old. Have you woken up several times?"
Xie Lan hummed, "I'm very sleepy."
"I feel it." Dou Sheng said gently, "Go to sleep soundly. Find a place to finish your homework tomorrow. I have to go home to record a video in the afternoon. We will go back to school to move to the dormitory together in the evening. Your things..."
Xie Lan's head disappeared from the railing. He fell directly onto the pillow and muttered, "Stop reading. I don't understand."
I seemed to hear Dou Sheng's low voice in my dream.
When they woke up the next morning, the boys all looked depressed.
Yu Fei was not more depressed than usual, perhaps there was not much room for improvement.
Che Ziming's grandmother was so mentally normal that it was unbelievable, as if she was playing with them yesterday. She ran out early in the morning and bought tofu pudding buns and tea eggs. She didn't eat much herself. She was in the yard, turning over the dried sweet potatoes that were drying in the sun while watching the children sitting in the house eating.
An old-fashioned cell phone was placed next to him, with the breaking news playing loudly.
"Five cars have been rear-ended on Jiangdong South Road. Drivers please pay attention and avoid them."
"The price of gasoline has increased slightly today, with No. 92 at 6.62 yuan per liter and No. 95 at 7.17 yuan per liter."
"Pork prices have adjusted significantly recently."
Grandma paused and turned to look at the house. "Mingming, I haven't cooked a big dish for a long time. Do you want to eat braised pork?"
Che Ziming's eyes lit up, "I want to eat braised beef tendon."
"Forget it then." The old lady waved her hand and continued to listen to the news, muttering, "The price of beef is going up. I'll buy some more and store it when it drops in a while."
Che Ziming: “…”
Dai You was drinking tofu pudding with such joy that he almost fell into the bowl.
A few people ate a few bites and then left. Che Ming insisted on seeing them off for ten meters to the gate of the hospital. When they passed an old lady who was bending her legs on a chair, the radio was playing, "The prevalence of Alzheimer's disease is increasing year by year. We urge everyone to care for the elderly in the community."
The old lady sighed and stopped the radio. "You can't get Alzheimer's. You'll be like a fool if you get it."
The five men in the yard were as quiet as chickens.
The old lady grabbed Che Ming and said, "It seems that there are quite a few in our community. Head, please help me contact them. I will participate in community charity and bring them warmth."
Che Ziming looked at him dimly, "Are you serious?"
"I can still chat with them," the old lady sighed, "calculate the prices of vegetables and meat with them, exercise their brains, and let them learn from me."
"… "
After a long while, Xie Lan shook his head violently and said, "Grandma, let's go."
"Bye." The old lady waved to them and looked at Xie Lan and said, "Come and play again next time. Grandma likes you."
Xie Lan was stunned for a moment, "Okay."
Dou Sheng came up from behind and put his arm around Xie Lan's shoulders, half pushing and half forcing him to turn his head, and the two of them crossed the threshold together.
"She's gone, grandma." Dou Sheng shouted.
It was not until they walked a few steps toward the back that Xie Lan heard him explain in a low voice: "Don't be so emotional when you're with an old person. It would be best if she could forget what happened yesterday. We can just come and play with her when she's sober the next day."
Xie Lan nodded.
The alley was very lively in the early morning, with people coming and going. Xie Lan took two steps and felt it was a bit crowded.
He glanced at Dou Sheng and asked, "Can you please not... How do you say that verb?"
Yu Fei reminded from behind: "Lun."
Xie Lan completed, "Can you please not collapse on me?"
Dou Sheng didn't move, "I'm playing my character."
After struggling in the crib all night, her hair became even more frizzy. The beige strands sparkled in the sun, and the earrings on her ears were extremely eye-catching.
Xie Lan moved her shoulders in annoyance, but didn't throw him off. She said speechlessly, "What does this have to do with me?"
"You are the little brother I recruited." Dou Sheng said as he took out the GoPro with his other hand.
Xie Lan wanted to hit someone, but when he saw the camera was set up, he hesitated and then stopped, letting him collapse with a cold face.
Dai You muttered in the background, "Xie Lan doesn't like having his arms held like this."
"Really?" Dou Sheng asked in a low voice.
Xie Lan thought he would stop, but the arm on his shoulder pressed down again.
Dou Sheng whispered, "Be patient, young man. If I don't even have a little brother, what kind of misstep would that be?"
Xie Lan had no expression on his face. "Why choose me?"
"Dai You has the face of a study committee member, and Yu Fei seems to be finished at any time. I have no other choice." Dou Sheng sighed, "It's not easy for an original up-loader to stand out. It's hard to produce content."
Xie Lan: “…”
Indeed, yes.
Walk through the narrow alley from Nanxiang, turn a corner and walk to the snack street at Ximen. There is a "Rushi Bookstore" at the end.
"Just do my homework here." Yu Fei sighed, "I can't walk anymore. I'm so tired."
This store sells mostly teaching reference books and exercises, but also comics and miscellaneous books. There are spacious reading areas behind the bookshelves and on the first floor. It is Sunday now, and there are not many people studying, working, or chatting here. The store is noisy and everyone is immersed in their own business.
Dou Sheng and the others went to order drinks, while Xie Lan went to find a seat first.
All the separate tables for four were occupied, and there were still a few scattered seats at the long wooden table at the end, where at most three people could sit next to each other, and the other person had to sit alone.
Xie Lan was just about to take his things and sit in a separate seat when the boy occupying a corner of the four-seater seat happened to look up, showed a look of shock behind him, silently opened his exercise book and moved two seats to the side.
Xie Lan turned around and saw Dou Sheng and Yu Fei coming over.
Dou Sheng was swiping his phone expressionlessly, his steps were slow, and his expression showed a bit of irritability from not having slept well. Yu Fei had a sullen look on his face, and the two of them walked towards him. With Dou Sheng's ripped jeans, he looked like someone who was going to smash up the store.
Xie Lan was stunned for a moment, then he remembered that he was in the same group with them, and he felt relieved.
The four of them sat down. Dai You gave the coffee to himself and Xie Lan, and the remaining milk tea was for Dou Sheng and Yu Fei.
As Xie Lan turned to the math homework, he heard Yu Fei mutter, "Why live? Just die."
The boys passing by couldn't help but glance at him secretly with horrified eyes.
Dou Sheng raised his eyes, "What's wrong?"
Yu Fei's face fell, "There are some questions that I can't figure out."
The passerby boy was stunned.
Yu Fei sighed, turned over the paper with "Mathematics Competition Sprint Exercises - Mathematics A" printed on it, and pointed at Dou Sheng and Xie Lan, tapping on the questions with the tip of his pen, "I only left six questions, and I don't know how to answer two of them. I am such a loser."
Dou Sheng glanced at it, moved his neck with a click, and hummed, "This question really doesn't seem to be that difficult."
Yu Fei: “…”
The passerby boy looked away blankly, a little distracted by his "High School Mathematics Basics Consolidation Paper B".
"I was busy with my old lady yesterday. There were thousands of discussions about this test in our class group." Dai You sighed, "Old Ma is really amazing. It seems that there are only six questions left in the homework, and you may not be able to finish them even if you work on them for ten hours."
Xie Lan hadn't started writing math yet, so he glanced at the title of the question.
Given a positive integer n, there are exactly 36 different prime numbers that divide n. For k=1, 2, ..., 5, let ... ... ... Prove that in 1
Xie Lan digested it for a while and asked quietly, "What is a prime number? I memorized it but forgot it."
Dou Sheng said, "prime number."
"Oh oh." Xie Lan remembered and grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled a few words, "This is easy to prove. Let's try to consider that... that..."
He got stuck again.
Dai You and Yu Fei stared at him straight. Xie Lan paused awkwardly and tried to translate from English to Chinese, "Including except for this rule?"
Dai Youyufei: “?”
Dou Sheng was delighted. "Inclusion-exclusion principle."
Everyone suddenly realized.
Dai You lowered his head and looked at the questions for a long time, and said with emotion: "Competition questions really show your level. Some people spend a whole night on them, while others only take an hour. Xie Lan, you should go the math competition route, and just make do with Chinese to get yourself into a key university."
Yu Fei casually said, "I don't know if there will be any changes this year. According to the rules of previous years, the top few in the competition can be directly recommended for admission. There is no need to take the key university entrance exam."
The recommendation sounds very tempting.
Dou Sheng yawned. "It's hard to say. I think we should prepare for both situations. Let's start with Chinese first."
"Oh, by the way, isn't there a city-wide math level 1 exam next weekend?" Dai You said, "It is said that this level exam is quite exciting. It will reveal whether it is a mule or a horse on the spot. Xie Lan can really use this to carefully evaluate his future choices."
Xie Lan seemed to understand what he said, but not quite.
"What's a mule?" he couldn't help asking.
Dai You's expression froze for a moment.
Dou Sheng almost knocked over his milk tea. "Don't bother with him. We don't want to learn such nonsense."
Xie Lan sighed, glanced at the six math questions on the test paper, and felt that there were no big problems, so he humbly opened a Chinese textbook among a group of people who were crazy about math.
The first lesson of the compulsory 1 Chinese course for high school students published by People’s Education Press is “沁园春·长沙”.
Xie Lan read the text line by line, circling the words he didn't know with a pencil: 湘, 橘, 染, 漫, 鈸, 鹰, 翔, 霜, 愁孤空, 载, 壮蓉, 浓, 茂, Ｗai Chi Fang Qiu, fen, 止...
Yu Fei looked up from her math paper and glanced at him. She couldn't help but say, "Why don't you just circle this paragraph?"
Dou Sheng hissed, "I'm just learning from you, why do you care about others?"
"That's right." Xie Lan sighed, glanced at the strangers around him, then took out a pocket dictionary and started flipping through it.
This is a modern poem, and he found it very difficult to write it by himself.
It took me half an hour to understand those words. I tried to understand them myself, compared them with the teaching materials, and then copied the poem out to recite it the next morning.
When all the work was done, Dou Sheng had quietly finished the math paper, a chemistry paper, and a physics paper, and began to write in the big white notebook he had been using for the mirror project.
Xie Lan felt a little suffocated and turned back to the first lesson.
"Rainy Alley" by Dai Wangshu.
Holding an oil-paper umbrella, alone
Wandering in the long, long
The lonely rain alley,
I hope to meet
Like a clove
A girl full of sorrow.
Xie Lan continued reading while looking up the words, and when he reached a certain line, he was stunned.
He nudged Dou Sheng lightly with his arm.
Dou Sheng raised his head, "What's wrong?"
Xie Lan pointed at the enlarged "行" and asked in a low voice, "Why is this word so big?"
Dou Sheng was speechless, and tapped the note below with his pen, "Here it is."
Only then did Xie Lan realize that there was a very small footnote below: chichu means the appearance of walking and stopping.
It's fine if it works, there's nothing to hesitate about.
Xie Lan sighed and marked the pinyin.
We studied until noon, and the two people opposite us finally finished their math homework.
Yu Fei stood up and stuffed the math test paper he had worked so hard on into his schoolbag. "Are you still studying?"
Dai You started to pack up, "Study in the afternoon. I'm going to eat now."
"Shall we go too?" Dou Sheng asked.
Xie Lan looked up from his textbook and took a long breath, "Let's go."
I taught myself two texts in more than three hours, and it seems to be pretty good.
He felt very dizzy, as if he was dizzy with Chinese characters. Classical poetry and modern poetry were not the same kind of dizziness. He couldn't understand classical poetry at all, and modern poetry was so confusing that he felt like someone was playing hide-and-seek with him.
For example, after learning the song "Rainy Alley", Xie Lan's mind was filled with only one sentence: cold, desolate and melancholy.
Just like him.
He sighed, "Maybe this is the power of the Chinese language. I feel the same way as the poet right after learning it."
"What are you talking about?" Dou Sheng chuckled, "You're just mumbling to yourself. You've failed at learning Chinese."
Xie Lan shook his head, "I'm not broken, I'm fine."
“I love language.”
On the way there, Xie Lan said little, feeling hollowed out by the heavy love.
But when he got home and got out of the elevator, he was shocked again.
—The number of express deliveries in the elevator has doubled compared to yesterday, and is almost blocking the door to my house.
Zhao Wenying was not at home, and there was food on the table. The kitten was sleeping soundly beside the food bowl. When it heard them coming back, it just came out to sniff the shoes, and then fell asleep beside them again.
Xie Lan watched as Dou Sheng pulled the express boxes into the house several times on a small cart and spread them out on the living room floor.
The elegant and tidy living room instantly turned into a warehouse.
"How many things did you buy?" Xie Lan couldn't help but picked up a box and glanced at the label.
Dou Sheng said, "Help me find a courier whose consignor is Summer Story."
Xie Lan was stunned, "That's it."
Dou Sheng waded through the sea of couriers with difficulty. "I'll record the unpacking of other couriers later, but I have to unpack this one myself. I need to be there."
"What?" Xie Lan was curious.
Dou Sheng took out a small disc from somewhere and opened the box by scratching the tape.
The small box was opened, revealing a delicate kraft paper bag. Dou Sheng untied the string and took out a piece of clothing from it.
Bow, small plaid in milk tea color and milky white.
Xie Lan suddenly felt something was wrong.
"Dou Sheng??"
He heard his own trembling voice, "What the hell is this?"
Dou Sheng looked up nonchalantly, "JK uniform."
Xie Lan: “???”
"I'm wearing it, not you." Dou Sheng pinched the dress, "The material is OK, it's worth the two thousand dollars I spent."
Xie Lan doubted his ears, "You spent two thousand yuan to buy this?"
"Yeah, it's a benefit for millions of fans, I have to give it to them sooner or later." Dou Sheng muttered, shaking out the lower body of the uniform and comparing it to himself, "My cousin, this matter was caused by me. Not only did I cheat you, but I actually tricked them. If they insist on seeing it, then let them wear it and have a try. It doesn't matter."
"… "
This is too indifferent.
Dou Sheng walked to the dressing mirror at the door and compared himself.
The handsome guy with an indifferent expression in the mirror held a uniform shirt in one hand and an A-line pleated skirt of the same color in the other. The bow was a little loose and two ribbons hung down.
He compared it to his body seriously.
The painting style was once quite weird.
The strangest thing is that Xie Lan actually thinks it looks pretty good.
"I beg you to continue to do this for the next few years." He heard his own numb voice.
"That's it. Only the upper body will be exposed in the camera, and at most a little bit of the skirt waist. It shouldn't be blocked." Dou Sheng muttered and kicked the box away. "Please go to my mom's room and check to make sure she's really not at home."
Xie Lan muttered, "You don't know you will be beaten."
Zhao Wenying was indeed not there. When Xie Lan went upstairs to the bathroom and came out, the camera had been set up in the living room.
A strange figure was sitting among a pile of express boxes.
Dou milk tea jk sheng.
Xie Lan's feet slipped and he slid down a step with a thud, and managed to keep his balance by holding onto the handrail.
Dou Sheng raised his head and looked at him, "Is it that scary? I think it looks pretty good. For a handsome guy like me, my facial features are actually tougher than those of girls. It's a pity that I didn't buy a wig."
Xie Lan: “…”
"I think you should consider this carefully." He couldn't help but say, "Will someone scold you?"
"Go ahead and curse me." Dou Sheng didn't care. "Money can't buy my happiness, and my fans are happy too. I make videos for fun. People who don't like me don't care."
As he spoke, he reached out and quickly tied the two ribbons on his chest into a bow and pulled them.
Dou Sheng had broad shoulders, so he bought the largest size uniform. His shoulders just held up the shirt completely, but he was thin, so the hem was a little empty. The pleated skirt reached the middle of his thighs, and he pulled a pair of black tights directly to below his knees. His legs were straight and slender, and the small part that was exposed was white and glowing.
Dou Sheng stood up and straightened her skirt, then grabbed her hair twice, pulled the few strands of beige hair down, and found an angle facing the camera.
"I'm pretty," he said.
Xie Lan: "... Is there a hotel near your home? I want to move out."
"The light is good right now, I'll record it quickly." Dou Sheng turned his head and smiled at him, "I declare that the most handsome Dou in the world will be temporarily renamed the most beautiful Dou in the world. The name change will take half an hour. Do you want to take a photo with me as a souvenir?"
Xie Lan: "…No need."
"bring it on!"
Dou Sheng came over to grab him without saying anything. Xie Lan turned around and wanted to run, but it was too late and he was grabbed by the arm again.
"Let go!" He felt extremely frightened. "I don't want it!"
"How wonderful." Dou Sheng hooked his arm around his neck without saying anything and pulled him into his arms.
Xie Lan: "... Let go!"
"Let's compare~"
Dou Sheng put one hand around his neck and held up his phone with the other to take a front-facing camera.
The screen could only record half of the two people's bodies, or one of their four bodies. Dou Sheng only showed a part of his milk-coffee-colored collar and bow tie, but his few wisps of beige hair were more eye-catching.
The light was indeed good in the afternoon. Under the bright sunshine, Dou Sheng was very happy. The hand that was around Xie Lan's neck made a scissors shape, and one of the sharp tips of the scissors poked Xie Lan's face.
"Don't touch me." Xie Lan suddenly felt the pleasure of Yu Fei talking about him all the time.
"One." Dou Sheng poked him again and again, "One, one."
Xie Lan's heart had collapsed.
Dou Sheng was very persistent. The camera stood in front of him without moving, and the arm around him remained motionless.
After a stalemate of half a minute, Xie Lan finally raised the corners of his stiff mouth.
Click.
When the business was over, his face fell again.
Dou Sheng let go of him and breathed a sigh of relief, "We look really good together."
“…” This person is definitely sick.
Dou Sheng lowered his head and poked the photo, "Do you know what a pie-chart smile is?"
Xie Lan frowned and asked irritably: "What is it?"
Dou Sheng held up the screen for him to see. "My dear, your face is filled with three parts of anger, four parts of frenzy, one part of indulgence, and two parts of coquettishness."
In the photo, Xie Lan's cheeks had two red spots, and it was unclear whether it was because of anger or being strangled.
Xie Lan was in despair, "Get lost."
Dou Sheng rolled away obediently, rolled to a place a few meters away from him, kicked away the express box, cleared an area, and sat down to choose a filter for the photo.
Xie Lan was watching him from a distance.
To be fair, it's not particularly weird for Dou Sheng to wear this outfit. Although he looks exactly like Zhao Wenying and has fair skin, he doesn't look feminine at all. Even in this outfit, at first glance he's just a "boy with weird behavior", and he looks weirdly good-looking.
Xie Lan couldn't help but sigh, lowered his head and looked up a few words, "Are you considered a cross-dressing guy?"
"You know this phrase?" Dou Sheng looked up in surprise, and when he saw the phone in his hand, he said "Oh" again, "No, I don't have this habit. I just want to express my gratitude to my fans. I've received hundreds or even thousands of private messages from them."
Xie Lan was at a loss for words. "The fans' request... can actually be rejected."
"You can refuse. I don't mind it." Dou Sheng laughed. "Besides, I don't usually record unboxing. This time, the packages I'm going to unpack are all clothes of delinquent teenagers. Compared with what I'm wearing, they'll be scared to death. And in the next video, they'll have the honor of seeing Douzi, a young man from society. This is called style!"
"..." Xie Lan ran away from home, "I'm so lucky to be your fan."
With mixed feelings, he casually poked at the small TV icon.
Slide your finger to "Dynamic" and pause.
Dou Sheng changed his profile picture.
It hadn’t been changed during his violin live broadcast the night before yesterday, and I checked his homepage yesterday at noon and it hadn’t been changed. When did he change it
At Che Ziming's grandmother's house? In the middle of the night
Xie Lan was a little confused looking at the avatar.
It’s still the same ordinary bean, but the background has changed.
—The background of the beans changed to light pink.